Chapter 49 – The Realm of the Dead

Yu Zhu opened her eyes to the bright glare of starlights on a vast plain of moving grass. The rustles were echoes of whispers and howls, of screams and supplications, of laughter and horror.

Tied around her hands was a glowing, gold rope, she was shuffling in a long line of people, led by two figures. One white. One black. both wore long flowing robes and their long pink, fleshy tongues swayed with every step they took. Strangely, as Yu Zhu looked at them, they were shadowless. These were the legendary guardsmen of the underworld, Hei Bai Wu Chang. She had seen status of them in during the Ghost Festivals.

I’m dead, she realized suddenly as her consciousness returned. She was wearing the same clothes she died in but there was no blood. There were no tears. Her hands were whole and scarless, even though bound to the person in front of her. She peered at the other faces, all eyes were closed, as if they were sleeping and walking at the same time.

She looked around as the two leading her, they talked quietly, unaware that she was awake. It was a long, long road. How long has she been dead?

Three arrows flying through the air brought her attention back to the present.

A man wearing a iron vine decorated blood red masked on a ghostly iridescent horse had shot the black and white figures. The ropes shattered and pandemonium ensued. All of the people suddenly woke up, and they looked around as if in shock. Some started screaming that they needed to go back, others simply sat down. One woman screamed, “I’m not dead. My child, my child can’t live without me! I have to go back!”

Soon the hundred or so souls that had been chained together began to run like mad.

The masked man rode to her in a hard gallop, the dust flying like a thundercloud behind him.

“They’ll be up in a moment.” He said as he was close enough, “If you go with them, you will be imprisoned forever with the other Zhong Yin Shen. Come with me.“

She looked at him, “What?”

The two figures began to tremble, trying to reanimate themselves. Yu Zhu saw their long red tongue slide out, trying to grasp the arrows out of their paralyzed bodies.

She grabbed his arm. The man swung her up onto the horse and galloped back up the road. Behind them the roar of the furious Guardians shook the earth as they began to collect the souls up once more.

They rode in hard silence as the stars blazed in the sky, making it clear as day. Yu Zhu’s fingers gripped the saddle so tightly but she realized, she couldn’t feel her fingers. She realized that in this form, there was no pain.

The man swung around. “Duck.” He said and shot two arrows. It pierced their eyes and both creatures tumbled into the dust.

“Where are we going?” She asked, the wind roared as the horse barreled down the road, it’s mouth foaming from the effort.”

“The Border of Souls.” He replied while scanning the sky, “It’s a lucky thing I was keeping an eye on you. Otherwise if you had crossed the Sea of Judgement, you wouldn’t have been able to go back. The King of the Underworld would definitely have reported your presence to the Emperor of Heaven. “

Yu Zhu was stunned, “Are you Wei Yun?”

The masked man laughed, “No. He’s so busy fighting all these wars that he didn’t even notice your soul slipping out of your body.”

Yu Zhu felt around for her accorn, “But he always knows.”

“Wei Yun only thought to protect you from demon attacks. His acorn would have warned him of great danger, if you were mortally wounded by a demon. He never thought a lowly human would dare touch you, with Lin Yu around.”

Yu Zhu felt angry, “I was doing fine.”

The man laughed, “You’re in the land of the dead, dear one. That’s not the definition of doing fine.”

“Then who are you?” She demanded, “Why do you know so much?”

The man looked back and smiled sadly, “Hundreds of thousands of years, I watched the Xi Yang Clan to make sure that my daughter is taken care of.” He removed his mask, “My name is Wu Kang.”

Yu Zhu looked at the man, her mouth was open in astonishment. “What?” She gasped.

The horse was tireless as they galloped towards a grey mist so thick it was impossible to tell what was behind it.

Wu Kang held up a box with a Citrine that was as large as a fist. It shone like the sun and cut through the mist, lighting a small, thin road on bigger than two feet wide, it stretched out for miles and miles . Around the road was dense, black soup where black shadows reached out hungrily. Hands covered in slick black stuff reached out and then sank back in.

“If anyone tried to cross the mist without this, they would get dragged into the waste.” Wu Kang explained as he jumped down. He gently grabbed Yu Zhu’s arms and helped her down, Yu Zhu felt like a child being carried by her father, in that one brief moment.

“As a ghost, you won’t feel physical pain anymore. But emotional pain is a different thing.” Where ever the citrine’s light touched, the black waste shrank from. He indicated for her to follow.

Yu Zhu grabbed his sleeve as they carefully walked , “How are you here?” Her mind whirling with a thousand questions. She looked at him. When Wei Yun had shown her her original father and mother, she had only seen a glimpse. Wu Kang still had the appearance of a young chief, excluding fearlessness and fire with his haughty face.

“When I died, I made a vow to your mother that I would wait for her until the end of time.” Wu Kang said as he led her carefully, testing each step to make sure his daughter could pass safely through.

“When humans die, they are led by the Guardians you just saw through the Plains of Regrets. Very, very rarely, a few of them with strong will and determination, and a wish so desperate that they are able to escape.”

Yu Zhu blinked, “But how?”

Wu Kang smiled to himself, “Like you I woke up when being led through the borderlands between the living and the dead. In my hand were three glowing white crystals, so fragile that I thought they would break if I held them too hard. But they were like the best iron. So I cut the golden rope and slipped away quietly.”

“They didn’t come for you?” Yu Zhu asked as she side stepped a reaching, gnarled hand. In front of her, Wu Kang smiled, “I was protected. The three white crystals hid me from the guardians.”

He walked and talked calmly, “For a hundred years, I wandered the plains, looking for a way out. Trying to find a way to come back to the side of the living. I had no way of getting past the midst, I had seen what happens when someone else had tried. But I needed to know what happened to your mother.”

Yu Zhu nodded.

“Then, as luck would have it, on the 100th year, on the night of the festival of the dead, Chang’E, the Goddess of the Moon, came to visit Yan Luo Wang, the King of the Underworld, beside her was a small white rabbit.” The fog grew thicker around them, Yu Zhu tightened her hold. Wu Kang continued his story.

“The Jade Rabbit had immediately sensed the crystals the moment she had appeared in the Realm of the Dead. She begged Chang’e to come and search for the source. For the past few decades, The Jade Rabbit had helped Chang’e regain her health and Chang’e could not refuse.”

When the Jade Rabbit had found me, I was weak. Yes. Spirits get weak.” He replied to her unspoken query, “I was the oldest living spirit I knew. The others who had escaped, began to fade away after a year or so, some are destroyed by the Guardians in punishment. Others had forgotten why they escaped, they become listless, depressed, and hopeless. Slowly the Winds of the plains tear away their soul until they become nothing.”

He sighed, “If I didn’t have those crystals, I might not have lived so long. They gave me hope.”

When the Jade Rabbit saw those tiny slivers, she knew what they were. Lady Chang’e began to cry as well. She gathered the pieces and transformed them before my very eyes. In her hands, they were pieces of floating light. Chang’e explained that these were the pieces of my wife’s soul.”

Wu Kang smiled sadly, “Gods can not die. It’s not in their very nature. So when they are irreparably hurt, their soul will shatter into a million pieces. A million shards of invisible consciousness, just floating around living and reliving the pain of every creature they pass.” Yu Zhu could feel a slight shudder emanated from him, “She suffered a fate worse than death because of me.”

“I asked Lady Chang’e if it was possible to gather my wife’s soul, to heal her. The Jade Rabbit and Chang’e were stunned at my request. They said that no one was insane enough to do it. To see someone’s soul is a power that requires sacrifice. I was allowed to see the three pieces because before I crossed over, it had become attached to me. But it had been 80 years, her soul would be spread across the earth and across the realms invisible to the living and the dead” Wu Kang’s voice was clear, but it was Yu Zhu’s turn to shudder. There was something about Wu Kang’s tone that her wonder the horrors her father had gone through to see her mother.

“What kind of sacrifice?” She asked once she could manage her voice. He did not answer her question. Instead, he told her,”In the northern mountains, in the Heavenly Lake of Chang Bai Shan – the Mountain of Eternal Winter is a single lotus, the earthly shrine of Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa, the Goddess of Mercy. A lotus that only blooms when the tides are low and the fog enshrouds the entire lake, making it near impossible to find. This is the one shrine that she pays attention to the most, since only the most devout will ever make it up the mountain. Chang’e told me that if I went to plead my case there with the Goddess of Mercy, she might agree.”

“How did you get there?” Yu Zhu wanted to know.

Wu Kang shook the box with encrusted with the Citrine. “Lady Chang’e was the wife of Hou Yi. When he had vanquished the Suns, he was give an immortal pill so that he can rise to the heavens to become a God. Hou Yi gave it to Chang’e, who was on her deathbed, it healed her but it separated the lovers forever. The pill that takes 99,999 years to make. The magical properties on the box alone were formidable. This is the very box in my hands. It allows me to cross into the realms.”

“And the Goddess of Mercy granted you the power to bring back mother?” Yu Zhu surmised.

Wu Kang smiled sadly, “Yes and no.”

Yu Zhu was confused, “What do you mean?”

“When I found the Lotus, the Goddess of Mercy appeared in front of me. She said she knew my wish, but that it was impossible for her to grant it. She may allow me to see the soul of Mei Yan, but to reassemble it, I would need immeasurable power. The kind that only comes from the creators of this world, the first and most powerful of the Gods.”

“She gave me the Sight and said that the box would help me keep store the pieces I find. I have traveled, as a spirit, invisible to the living to find all the pieces.” He sighed, “Yet, I still need the last piece.”

“And what happens when you find it?” Yu Zh wanted to know, “Will I see mother again?” There was painful hope. She had never met her parents, to see them, to know them, to be held by them was something she had wondered ever since Wei Yun had revealed the truth about her.

Wu Kang sighed again, his shoulders sagging, “I don’t know. I have wondered and dreamed about this on end. But to make Mei Yan whole, I need the last piece of her soul and I need the most powerful object in all these realms.”

“What is that?” Yu Zhu asked.

Wu Kang stopped, and looked back at her with a leveled gaze, “Pan Gu’s heart. The same Pan Gu’s heart that resides in Wei Yun.”

Yu Zhu’s fingers grew tighter and tighter around Wu Kang’s sleeve, she didn’t know what to say. Her mouth became dry and she felt like she needed to sit. Yet, in the encroaching darkness, she had no choice but to move foward.

They walked in silence until suddenly the grey mist dissipated. They stood underneath a vast, glass looking substance.

In it, Yu Zhu saw the whole human realm, she looked up into the glass but found herself looking down at the tops of roofs. They were not in Yue, but Dian. She looked at him in confusion, “But my body is in the Yue Kingdom.”

“Sometimes this Mirror, if you will, will show you places where you have unresolved businesses or regrets. It will not show you your home until you let go of such regret” He answer while looking up at the city.

“You’ve wondered a long time about that place” Wu Kang said as he gestured to her old home, the Dian Palace. He opened his hands and the picture magnified, “You’ve always wondered why your brother sent you away, didn’t you? They didn’t hate you, They were protecting you.”

Yu Zhu saw Xu Long Hui cough up blood, his sat, his head pressed into the unforgiving back of the Dragon Chair. “He’s dying.” Yu Zhu said softly.

“I have been privy to information that you were unaware of during that time.” Wu Kang told her as she watched, her eyes filling with tears. “I know why your brother, Hua Er, and the man you knew as your father, the Emperor of Dian, did what they did.”

He took her hand, “Before I can take you back to your body, it’s time you knew the truth. Only until you decide to let it go, will you be able to choose your path.”

ahahha I know what you mean! Wu Kang and Mei Yan would never let each other go willingly. Wu Kang would probably been dragged kicking and screaming through reincarnation, he would rather wait forever as a spirit than to become someone else.

I feel that I have been really spoiled these couple of days! Lol
Thanks a bunch for your hard work! I’m loving every
Piece of it to the core. Can’t believe yu zhu got to meet her dad, and also
Finding out the truth too about the people she love
Trying to protect her too. I can’t wait for the next chapters
Now lol. Thanks for ending my night with a bang! 🙂

Thank you for reading! I’ve been churning out chapters pretty fast because I’m so excited to let people know what’s happening next. I definitely have periods where writing is easy and then periods where it’s very slow.

Having you say that makes me really happy and Yu Zhu meeting her dad definitely was something I’ve been planning for a while. But the consequences of this meeting on the living, well, it’s definitely going to cause some shake-ups in the human realms.

I’m not sure how I feel about this chapter. I enjoyed it very much, I really did, so thank you very much dramatictealeaves! (= When I said I’m not sure how I feel, it’s not your writing, but Wu Kang’s mission to me seem so sad and yet selfish. You have a guy who for hundreds and thousands of years collecting shattered pieces of Mei Yan’s soul just to see her spirit with the hope to reassemble her soul. But what would happen thereafter? Would she be able to reincarnate? But this is also at the expense of Wei Yun. When his brother died, didn’t he also disintegrate? That would mean Wei Yun’s ending would be the same as Wei Tian’s. It just seems like these two brothers’ fate revolved around the love of Wu Kang and Mei Yan. It’s quite sad and selfish in that Wu Kang promised to wait for Mei Yan and will use his existence to collect her soul just to be with her again. I was also a little upset that Wu Kang laughed that Wei Yun has been fighting so many wars to not notice her soul slipping away. Umm..he’s doing this for your daughter! Others can judge him, but he should be the last one. He, Mei Yan, and Wei Tian are the ones who left such a burden behind for one immortal to bear. Given I don’t agree to all of his actions, but even he is doing whatever he can do to protect the one living thing he cares about. Sorry, it does seem like I don’t like daddy much.

On a brighter side, I can’t wait for Yu Zhu to finally return to the Dian Kingdom. (= It would be nice if she could choose mortality or immortality. I guess she can somewhat do that just like her mother, Mei Yan? She can choose to be with a human. That would be a nice pair though, Yu Zhu and Zhu Zhan Ye, a princess and a prince. It could actually merge the kingdom with the marriage alliance. However my heart still feels for Wei Yun. He’s had a tough life. But maybe that is his “fate”. Can I split Yu Zhu in half? Her mortal half can be with Zhu Zhan Ye and her immortal half can be with Wei Yun. If only.. Haha. For some reason when I mentioned “choosing mortality/immortality”, it reminded me of Lord of the Rings about Elrond and Elros. They were both half-breeds and Elrond chose immortality and Elros chose mortality.

The story still hasn’t brought in the Emperor of Heaven yet! Everything that is going on, Wei Yun’s fight, Yu Zhu’s struggle, Mei Yan and Wu Kang’s fight are all due to the Emperor of Heaven’s fear of this prophesy that he’ll be overthrown by a half-blood. There’s still so much story to tell. I wonder if you’re going to hit 100 chapters with so much to tell.

Haha, I also realized that I seem to ask you all these questions that will/might be answered in your side stories. I love side stories! or more like background stories…

As always, I really enjoy your comments! And I totally understand how you feel about Wu Kang. He and Mei Yan has that kind of toxic love that destroys others, even if they never meant it to happen. But Mei Yan’s been suffering for hundreds of thousands of years, and Wu Kang, being who he is would never rest until she is found. That’s the central pull of their love, neither is very good at letting things go, even when they should.

I think more than anything, Wu Kang hates Wei Yun, despite Wei Yun and Yu Zhu’s relationship. There’s a lot that Wu Kang blames Wei Yun for and I don’t think those two will ever see eye to eye on anything. Wu Kang wouldn’t think twice about hurting Wei Yun, even though Wei Tian has sacraficed himself. d

Also – in the story I talk about a sacrifice that Wu Kang has to make if he wants Mei Yan back. This will be revealed eventually.

As for Yu Zhu returning to Dian, yes. It’s almost time. I know I’ve been saying this for a LONG time and I promise, it’s really really soon. First, Dad has to tell her the truth… and once she returns to Yue, I think there’s going to be a few hurdles and decisions that she needs to make.

I’m trying to keep it under 100 chapters, but you’re right, there is so much to tell! Thank you so much for bringing up these points, it’s really helpful!

chang'erAugust 20, 2014 at 10:55 pm

That’s interesting that you say Wu Kang hates Wei Yun more than anything even though Wu Kang has never met Wei Yun. Is it because he was tricked to lead an army and indirectly forced the death of Mei Yan and Wei Tian?

Maybe it’s because I care more for the living now that I don’t really care much about those who are dead. I could understand how Wu Kang is devastated that Mei Yan disintegrated because of him, but maybe because I was never that interested in their love from the beginning that makes me not care as much for his mission. I was annoyed with Mei Yan when she lied to Jade Rabbit or asked Jade Rabbit to cover for her. I know it’s hard to stop who you love, but I also got the impression that Mei Yan flirted with Wei Tian or encouraged his affections as well (by not telling him the truth). I guess there is that saying that love is selfish, but that love also destroyed all those people who loved them.

It is pretty neat though that Yu Zhu got to see her father.. after hundreds of thousands of years from birth. I guess I also have to accept their love because that’s what gave us Yu Zhu and all her adventures.

Aww. I’m glad my comments are helpful. I also like reading other people’s thoughts and seeing how each readers think differently or similarly or desire one result or another. It makes reading fun and even more fun when you can express it to the author and have the author respond! (=

I love responding, all these comments really help me as a writer. Yours are really good because they’re so detailed 🙂

A lot of the writing is pre-planned but then reading the comments makes me realize what I need to tweak and what’s working.

Of course I worry about character development a lot and when I wrote about Wu Kang and Mei Yan, I really did like them. But their love became the focal point of a war and it was so painful to see how their relationship was affecting everyone around them. Yu ZHu, having listened to the whole story of her true mother and father…I think it affects her more than she lets on.

Her character changed after she left Wei Yun, after she knew the truth and in many ways her coldness to Zhu Zhan Ye is to protect herself. But she’s also 18 and it’s pretty hard not to like a cute boy at that age.

Also – Wu Kang knew about everything from the Jade Rabbit when she came to the underworld. He blames Wei Yun for attacking when Mei Yan was physical and mentally at her limit. Maybe she would’ve been alive if Wei Yun didn’t come with the army but that’s the kind of thoughts he’s had to live with. So you’re very right about that! Of course Wei Yun’s hated himself for everything for hundreds of thousands of millennia.

Wu Kang escaped the underworld at the edge of hell, if you will. I think he’s more soul than ghost, thus puting him in the spirit category. Plus Mei Yan’s soul kept him from disintegrating.

I really liked Mei Yan and Wu Kang as a couple, but, like I said to Chang’er, their love affair was the root of all of the pain and trouble. But if they didn’t then, Yu Zhu wouldn’t exist either.

Wu Kang would rather have the love of his life happy and safe and forget about him rather than her suffering for hundreds of thousands of years because of him. I agree that their love is selfish in that they only think of each other, but that their individual feelings are selfless. It makes them a really complicated couple.

I can’t really talk about Mei Yan’s future just yet! I’m really glad I got to write about these two again.

Thanks for another elaborate chapter. I hope there is a alternative solution than Pan gu’s heart. I really like Wei Yun and what he trying to do for ZY. It would really be a tragic if Wei Yun disperse. He had a really tough life, please don’t let that happen..Its so sad just thinking the possibility..
Thanks again for the great job!! Good health..

I got introduced to your blog by sutekii. So far I have been really enjoying your story and the insightful comments that your readers write.

Really glad that Yu Zhu is going to find out the truth soon.

I’m quite curious about the prophecy that a half-blood will overthrow the Jade Emperor. I am assuming that Yu Zhu is going to fulfil that prophecy? If so, does she become the new ruler? What will happen to the Dian Kingdom? (I’m guessing that Xu Long Hui doesn’t have time on earth much longer)

So far in the story, there is no strong romantic relationship except the one between Yu Zhu’s parents which resulted in a tragedy. It is an interesting thought – love or responsibilities first? Yu Zhu’s parents opted for the first option and almost everyone else in the story is opting for the second. I don’t think there’s any right or wrong answer. Everyone has their choice to make. Wei Yun has a heavy responsibility, I wondered if he ever felt burdened or resentful towards the people who placed the responsibilities on him? Or is he beyond all that since he is a god who has lived for so many millenia?

Hello! I’m very glad you’re commenting, and yes, I love all the discussions from the readers, it’s really interesting. Please join in, I love reading all the comments, and thank you for reading!

Excellently put about the romantic versus responsibility. I always felt really bad that Wei Yun had to shoulder it all alone. A few chapters ago, Yu Zhu and Lin Yu discusses what it means to be human and deity. When they feel, they really feel it, which is exactly why Mei Yan disobeyed heaven and earth to be with Wu Kang. In some ways her intensity get reciprocated by Wu Kang and their love is obsessive.

I think by far that I like Xu Long Hui and Hua Er’s relationship, especially because though they hate it, they let go because they think more than just themselves. But that makes it hurt in a way that’s very different from Mei Yan and Wu Kang.

As for Xu Long Hui, I think I planned the best ending for him and Hua Er that I could, even though it’s very much entangled into everyone else’s lives.

As for the prophecy, it will come :P, I can’t say too much on that part.

As I’m waiting for a new post, I have the chance to slowly reread the novel. I just wanted to comment that I have forgotten how cute Shan Ying Lang and Yu Zhu were together at the beginning. (= But they were separated so quickly. I wonder if that little chemistry still exist.

I also noticed that modern day Dian is half sunken in a lake. Wow, is this the foreshadowing of the fate of their empire? Might as well be so since Xu Long Hui can’t reign it forever and neither will Yu Zhu if she ends up getting her powers. Most likely Hong Yan Su will not get the kingdom either. Sounds very much like some huge event between the gods will destroy the kingdom (like how Wei Yun created a massive crater or the White Snake drowning a whole city). Speaking of Hong Yan Su, when is he going to surface? Probably soon now that the center stage is moving back to Dian, right?

Hi sorry for the late reply! my work hours bled into my real life. The last three weeks were really busy and I couldn’t update, but thanks for checking up! I’m really touched by your and chang’er’s comments!

Hi dramatialeaves. How have you been? Will you please, please squeeze in chap 50? Please… I’m begging you. I love this book. It still amazes me that you wrote it. Anyways, hope you have time soon. Waiting patiently,
Victoria

dramatictealeaves, I miss Yu Zhu like crazy, had not time to think about it there past few weeks but when I did, the longing striked me like crazy, I’m overwhelmed how I turned to love the characters you created.

haha thanks! I’ve had a few bad weeks. But I also have written a bit for Yu Zhu’s story. To be honest, I also accidentally started writing another book, but no worries I don’t plan on writing a lot of it until I finish YZ!

cathdearyNovember 17, 2014 at 3:55 pm

Wow, I’m excited to read the other story. But well, I’d rather be ONLY longing over one novel than two of them at the same time, I don’t know, I just don’t want to choose favoritism over two things when they are not supposed to be compared to begin with but should be enjoyed. And maybe because it’s lonely waiting for more things at the same time. I love the way to write though and please release it in due time, I would love to read it after Yu Zhu’s story, though I would hate to bid goodbye to the story yet.